SC - Harpestrengs-manuscript: Was: Re: Northern Foods

[Alderton, Philippa]

Just wanted to tell you all - since the Harpestrengs manuscript, AKA
Icelandic Medical Miscellany, AKA old Danish cookbook - that I now have
obtained copies of the recipe part of the miscellany (Icelandic version),
and of the Kristensen edition of Harpestreng (the Codex K, I believe;
haven´t had time to find out for sure yet). The former is in 14th or 15th
century Icelandic, the latter in 13th century Danish, and I can read them
both fairly easily.

Some recipes are almost identical in both versions, others are not. To take
as an example something most of you are familiar with, the so-called
Icelandic Chicken:

Quomodo condiantur pulli in pastillis.
Madur skal eitt ongtt hæns j.ii. skera. ok svepa þar um heil salve blod ok
skera j spek. ok salltt med lata ad lyfe. Sidan hylia þat med deigh ok baka
sem braud i ofne.

which is translated in Cariadoc´s Miscellany as:
"One shall cut a young chicken in two and wrap about it whole leaves of
salvia, and cut up in it bacon and add salt to suit the taste. Then cover
that with dough and bake like bread in the oven."
(I would translate spek as lard or bacon fat, cut into small cubes.)

The Danish version:

De cibo qui dicitur spæk honer.
Man skal siuthæ et høns mæth helæ saluiæ blath oc spæk væl skoren sma sum
ærtær oc ædykæ. oc salt til matæ. Thæt hetær spæk honer.

which I translate as:
"One shall boil a chicken with whole leaves of sage and lard cut in cubes as
small as peas and vinegar and salt to taste. This is called lard chickens."
(I translate spæk as lard but bacon might be more accurate - not really sure
about this.)

As you can see, there is very considerable difference even though this is
supposed to be the same recipe. I haven´t had time to compare the rest yet.

The Icelandic version has 23 recipes, the Danish has 25. There are 8 chicken
recipes, 2 dessert recipes, one recipe for a venison marrow paté; the rest
are various spice blends and condiments, almond milk and such.

Nanna


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